INNOVATION July-August 2021

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it. The sensors that we’ve developed give you real-time information on the thickness of the ice as it grows, so you know that when it reaches a critical thickness you should turn on the ice protection system to remove it.” The UBCO sensors can also tell when water is sitting on the wing’s surface before it turns to ice, and calculate how long any ice that has formed will take to melt, “so there’s just a lot more information there beyond whether you’ve got ice, yes or no,” said Golovin. And, because the coated sensors are “fairly cheap to make, you could have an array of them along the wing to detect not just the overall conditions of the airplane, but also determine where the ice is—there’s more ice over here, there’s no ice over there—and then you could potentially optimize the de-icing, using it in some spots rather than turning it on everywhere.” UPCOMING WEBINAR TO HELP DEVELOP LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Engineers and Geoscientists BC and Engine rs Can da will hosting a free one- hour webinar en itled Land Acknowledgments for E gineers and Geosci ntists , scheduled for March 10, 2021. This session will explor the practice of acknowledging First Peoples and traditional land as a way to open meetings, and also as part of a larger process towards reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Cassandra Polyzou of Engineers Canada will facilitate a panel discussion with Indigenous engineers, geoscientists, and Indigenous knowledge-keepers, on the importance of this traditional protocol and its application to the engineering and geoscience professions. To learn more or to regist r, visit the event page at egbc.ca/Events , or email Allison Smith at asmith@egbc.ca . The Events Page includes upcoming webinars and on-demand offerings through the Online Learning Centre. To suggest future topics or speakers, email pdevents@egbc.ca .

Graduate student Ryan Kosak adds water droplets to the ice detection sensor. P hoto : s am c harles /uBc o kanagan

we had access to these novel types of sensors,” he said, “the way in which we would characterize how much a coating would delay droplets from freezing was visual. We would watch the liquid transform from liquid to solid, and then visually detect when ice was forming. The sensor readings informed us that the solidification process was actually much more involved, and was happening much more quickly, than we initially thought.” For aircraft, in particular, this is vital information. “Airplanes do have ice sensors now,” said Golovin. “They look kind of like a little stick coming off the underside of a wing. But it’s a rudimentary way of sensing ice. They basically work through a thermal measurement. When ice forms on the stick as the plane flies through the air, you know the ice is present but you don’t know anything else about edition of Innovation magazine ( egbc.ca/innovation ), and produced a short video about the PGA. To register for the upcoming webinars, watch previous PGA webinars, download the insert, or view the video, visit egbc.ca/pga . If you have questions about the new legislation, email professionalgovernance@egbc.ca , or visit our website at egbc.ca/pga . P hoto : eB a dventure P hotograPhy / shutterstoCK . Com

From there, it was a quick leap to the idea of integrating planar microwave sensors into a coating that could be applied to a variety of surfaces. “Our microwave sensors are 2-D structures,” Zarifi said. “You can bend them, you can glue them, and, through this project, we determined that you can even paint them on. The sensor and the coating can be combined into one, which is very important because it makes them more durable.” On an airplane wing, for example, they have to be able to stand up to exposure to water and very cold or very hot temperatures. “The coating will do several jobs, the most important of which is to protect the surface of the sensor so it can operate for a longer time.” At the same time, the coating will act to delay or prevent ice from forming. “The coating is known as an anti-icing coating,” said Golovin. “It’s made of silica particles that are trapped within a polymer resin—you can think of them as having a Teflon outer layer and a glass inner layer. It’s been designed to reduce the formation and accretion of ice by having a highly, highly textured surface that’s also been made hydrophobic through its chemistry. It causes water droplets to bead up and roll off.” Figuring out how to combine the sensors with the coating was, said Golovin, “most likely the biggest challenge in the project, simply because the sensors had never been operated at low temperature before. Small things like the power cables—getting frost on them would cause them to short out.” But overcoming that challenge also led to a major discovery for Golovin and his OPERA Lab students. “Before Engineers and Geoscientists BC is preparing for the implementation of the Professional Governance Act (PGA)—new governing legislation for professional regulators in the natural and built environment, including Engineers and Geoscientists BC. The new legislation is anticipated to come into force in February 2021. Engine rs nd Geoscientist BC will host a PGA webinar series in early 2021, on key obligations and requirements for registrants, i cluding the updated Code of Ethics, Continuing Education requir ments and th regulation of engineering and geoscience firms: • Underst nd ng the New Code of Ethics on January 27, 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM; • Continuing Education Requirements on February 10, 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM; and • Unde standing Regulation of Firms on F bruary 17, 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM. To learn more or register for upcoming webinar, visit egbc.ca/Events . Recordings of all three webinars will be made available to registrants at no charge through Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s Online Learning Centre soon after the webinars themselves are completed. To ensure registrants are kept informed of the changes coming into effect, we developed a special PGA reference guide, included in the November/December

WEBINAR SERIES HIGHLIGHT PROFESSIONAL GOVERNANCE ACT EDUCATION RESOURCES

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An experiment to test the efficacy of the ice detection sensor. P hoto : s am c harles /uBc o kanagan

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